The Sacramento Kings play two of their next three games against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  On the heels of the failed arena deal, Oklahoma City walloped Sacramento in their previous meeting just one week ago.

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Last night, the Sacramento Kings hosted a panel discussion on issues related to the past, present and future of the NBA.  Along with Geoff Petrie and Keith Smart, the “Generations Basketball” forum featured a duo of NBA greats – Bill Walton and Oscar Robertson, who is in Sacramento being honored tonight for the 50th anniversary of his triple-double season.

Among the topics discussed was this debate on the one-and-done athlete, with Walton and Robertson falling on opposing sides of the aisle.

Bill Walton:  The NBA doesn’t want this to happen.  The NCAA, they don’t want that to happen.  It’s the Player’s Association.  It’s Billy Hunter that’s arguing for players who aren’t even in his own union who are not paying dues.  And I think that’s a huge mistake.

Oscar Robertson:  First of all, that’s not a mistake.  First of all, I think it’s illegal to tell a young man that he has to spend a year out (in college) after his 18th birthday for him to play basketball (professionally).  He can go to the army, fight in Afghanistan?

Bill Walton:  We don’t let them buy liquor.  We don’t let them into night clubs.

Oscar Robertson:  Can they smoke at 18?

(Walton is momentarily left speechless)

Bill Walton:  I don’t smoke.

Oscar Robertson:  All (these) rules about one-and-done and after your freshman year is to benefit the colleges.  Tell this for me – (Greg) Oden, when he came out of Ohio State, it’s unfortunate he’s got all these problems, he didn’t need to go to Ohio State to play.  Could’ve gone right in and played right away.  But this is done so colleges can take advantage of a young person for one year if he’s a great player.  And that’s all it’s for.

Keith Smart:  I also think the year we won the championship, I made “the shot”, it never dawned on me that I wanted to come to the NBA.  Many said, “You should’ve made the shot and ran straight out of the Superdome and straight to New York and waited for the draft.”  But it never hit my mind – I loved college, I enjoyed college and I had fun in college.

Oscar Robertson:  But that’s true because now there’s a vehicle (for) the players to take advantage of it.  If the vehicle wasn’t there, they couldn’t go.  And I don’t know why everyone gets so upset about it.  If you don’t want a player who’s a one year and done, don’t take him.  Don’t sign him because a lot of guys are not going to be great basketball players.  And really what Procter & Gamble should do is give them all diapers.

After the jump, listen to audio of the debate.

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They traded runs with the San Antonio Spurs in the first half, but the Sacramento Kings had no answer after intermission.  The Kings were outscored by 24 points in the second half and lost 127-102 at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday evening.

“I thought we played about as close as we could,” said Kings head coach Keith Smart after the loss.  ”We did a really good job in the first half and then they came out and had 39 points in the third quarter, and they wrapped it up a little bit.  We didn’t have what was necessary; we turned the ball over 12 times and they got 21 points off of those turnovers.  You make a mistake and this team is going to capitalize on them.”

Rookie Isaiah Thomas led Sacramento with 21 points and eight assists.  Marcus Thornton was ruled out after suffering a left-quad contusion in the third quarter, but returned in the final period to finish with 20 points.

In their third game in as many nights, Gary Neal and Tiago Splitter led the Spurs in victory.  Neal and Splitter combined for 34 points off San Antonio’s bench.  Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich rested veteran superstar Tim Duncan, who played  just a total of 46 minutes in San Antonio’s previous two wins.

The Kings fall to 20-42 overall and 15-16 at home.  They host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.

- Jonathan Santiago

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Just five games remain in the Kings’ season.  After breaking a seven-game losing skid on Sunday, Sacramento faces a San Antonio Spurs team completing a set of three games in three nights.

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Their loyalty remains unquestioned.

Though uncertainty once again surrounds the Kings future in Sacramento, fans set aside their angst and willed their team to a 104-103 victory Sunday over the Portland Trail Blazers.

“The fans are one of a kind,” said Kings guard Isaiah Thomas of the crowd at Power Balance Pavilion.  “These fans are the best in the NBA, I feel like.”

“You wouldn’t think with everything going on, they wouldn’t show up tonight,” The rookie guard added. “And then they did.”

In light of Friday’s unceremonious end to the downtown arena deal, Kings insiders wondered what the turnout of yesterday’s game would be.  To their surprise, an announced crowd of 16,012 came to watch a Kings team in the thick of a season-high seven-game losing streak.

“I can’t thank the fans enough,” said Thomas, who plans on reaching out to mentor and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson sometime this week. “Because behind everything, the good and bad, they’ve supported us.  The least we can do is go out there and play hard every night for them because they support us like we do them.”

Below, reaction from Thomas, Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton and head coach Keith Smart on the wave of support from fans in yesterday’s win.

by Jonathan Santiago & James Ham

Thanks to the heroics of Marcus Thornton and Terrence Williams, the Sacramento Kings ended a season-high seven-game losing streak by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 104-103, at Power Balance Pavilion.

“No matter who the opponent was, we needed this win,” said Kings head coach Keith Smart after the Sunday victory. “And the young men found a way to do it.  Based on everything that happened with our franchise this week and the way it has been with our team in the past two weeks, we found a way.”

After climbing out of an eight-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter, Williams was subbed into one of the game’s final defensive possessions.  The Kings reserve forward made a timely steal that led to a lay-up by Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.  The Blazers’ Wesley Matthews responded with a corner three in front of the Kings’ bench to take a 103-102 lead.  But Thornton would seal the game’s outcome by hitting a 17-foot jumper with 3.4 seconds left to seal the Kings’ victory.

For the second time this season, three Kings’ players tallied at least 20 points.  Cousins recorded 23 while Thornton and Tyreke Evans finished 20 points each.  Former King J.J. Hickson recorded his fifth double-double in a Blazers uniform, finishing with 10 points and a season-high-tying 13 rebounds.

With the win, the Kings improve their home record to 15-15 and their overall standing to 20-41.  They host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

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With seven consecutive games lost, the Sacramento Kings are riding their longest losing streak of the season.  They attempt to buck the trend in a Sunday matinee against a familiar face and the Portland Trailblazers.

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The curtain wasn’t raised in the viewing room, but the sound of a lively, boisterous workout session could be heard in the Sacramento Kings practice facility late Saturday afternoon.  As a tumultuous lockout-shortened season nears its end, players and coaches say they remain focused on the product they can control.

“No, I don’t focus on that anyway,” replied Kings head coach Keith Smart when asked if he held practice to keep his team centered on basketball and not the chaotic events that led to the dissolution of a deal to build a new Sacramento  arena.

“I focus on the team,” he added.  “I focus on the players – each individual player – our basketball team.  Players are going to play.  I want to get their minds off of how bad they played last night…to get us back to working again.”

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After a solid game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings fell flat in New Orleans.  The Hornets shot an amazing 56 percent from the field on their way to 105-96 victory.

Jason Smith led the way for New Orleans, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds on 10-for-12 shooting.  Marco Belinelli scored 21 points, while Xavier Henry dropped 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the Hornets’ bench.  This was just the 16th win of the season for New Orleans, who have struggled with injuries all year long.

Marcus Thornton played inspired ball in his home state of Louisiana.  The former Hornet finished with a game-high 25 points in his second game back from injury.  Jason Thompson anchored the post with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting and kicked in seven rebounds.

The Kings have now lost six straight and drop to 19-40 on the season.

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